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Qi, also commonly spelled ch'i (in Wade-Giles romanization) or ki (in romanized Japanese), is a fundamental concept of traditional Chinese culture. more...

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Qi is believed to be part of everything that exists, as in “life force” or “spiritual energy,” It is most often translated as “energy flow,” or literally as “air” or “breath” (for example, a term meaning “weather” is tiānqì, literally “sky air”). It is pronounced something like "chee" in Mandarin Chinese but the tongue position is different. (See Media:Difficult Sounds.GIF.)

The etymological meaning of the qi logogram in its traditional form 氣 is “steam (气) rising from rice (米) as it cooks.”

References to qi, and similar philosophical concepts, as the life-process of “flow” in metaphysical energy that sustains living beings are found in many belief systems, especially in Asia. Philosophical conceptions of qi date from the earliest recorded times in Chinese thinking. One of the important early figures in Chinese mythology is Huang Di (the Yellow Emperor). He is often considered a culture hero who collected and formalized much of what subsequently became known as traditional Chinese medicine.

Although the concept of qi has been very important within many Chinese philosophies, their descriptions of qi have been varied and conflicting. One significant difference has been the question of whether qi exists as a force separate from matter, if qi arises from matter, or if matter arises from qi. Some Buddhists and Taoists have tended toward the third belief, with some Buddhists in particular believing that matter is an illusion.

By contrast, the Neo-Confucians criticized the notion that qi exists separate from matter, and viewed qi as arising from the properties of matter. Most of the theories of qi as a metaphor for the fundamental physical properties of the universe that we are familiar with today were systematized and promulgated in the last thousand years or so by the Neo-Confucians. Knowledge of the theories they espoused was eventually required by subsequent Chinese dynasties to pass their civil service examinations.

Qi in traditional Chinese medicine

Theories of traditional Chinese medicine assert that the body has natural patterns of qi that circulate in channels called meridians in English. Symptoms of various illnesses are often believed to be the product of disrupted, blocked, or unbalanced qi movement (interrupted flow) through the body's meridians, as well as deficencies or imbalances of qi (homeostatic imbalance) in the various Zang Fu organs. Traditional Chinese medicine often seeks to relieve these imbalances by adjusting the circulation of qi (metabolic energy flow) in the body using a variety of therapeutic techniques. Some of these techniques include herbal medicines, special diets, physical training regimens (qigong, Tai Chi, and martial arts training), massage to clear blockages, and acupuncture, which uses fine metal needles inserted into the skin to reroute or balance qi.

Read more at Wikipedia.org